Wallet awakens for
'hibernation'
By
Jeffrey Fazio
Special Sections Writer
Winter
in Pennsylvania means different things to different people. For me, it
means three months without the car I love to drive and race. It means
withdrawal. I have, after all, already admitted in a previous column
that I am an automobile addict.
For
my car, winter is a time to hibernate, rejuvenate and mutate. Its
hibernation consists of not being driven at all. My insurance coverage
is suspended from Dec. 15 to March 15, and the car is left with my
mechanic, Jeff Herstine in Moore Township, Northampton County. Or, as
I like to say, it has been left at the doctor's for its winter
checkup.
During
this season of cold, my ride sees a lot of maintenance to rejuvenate
what has been used and abused all year. All of the parts that have
been twisted, broken or bent from a solid season of racing get fixed
or replaced by Herstine. It is also a time to make sure the engine is
still healthy and that the brakes and suspension are still up to
snuff. Basically, the whole car gets a physical.
Once
"doctor" Herstine gives my ride a clean bill of health, it
is time for the real fun -- the mutating. The goal of this
transformation process is to make the car faster. Faster comes from
not only squeezing more power out of my car's engine, but also
improving its handling and braking.
This
winter, my suspension will be upgraded with a set of lighter, stronger
sway bars so it can hold onto the turns better. I will also be
purchasing wider, stickier tires to improve my braking and handling.
Hopefully that will net some faster times at this year's Duryea Hill
Climb held on Mount Penn.
And
if all goes according to plan, I will also be making an additional 100
rear-wheel horsepower pushing me well beyond 450 rwhp -- not too
shabby for a 15-year-old 200,000-mile Toyota engine. As part of my
engine upgrades, I am purchasing an engine management system. In
simple terms, this is a computer that runs the engine and replaces the
factory engine control unit.
These
units are installed and tuned by people who apparently think they can
run an engine better than Toyota does. No, I'm not one of those
people, but I will be paying for the services of one of them, Bryan
"NoShoes" Moore. Setting up and tuning an EMS to operate an
engine better than the factory originally did is for people with
serious brains. When it comes to tuning an engine, I have more money
than brains and I don't have much money. Huh? Wait a minute. Never
mind.
At
any rate, this wonderland of winter work is going to cost me some
serious Benjamins. After a long season paying for racing events,
membership fees, hotels, food, gas for travel, gas for racing and
loads of other miscellaneous items, I was looking forward to a much
less expensive few months over the winter. Ha ha.
The
irony is that it appears that maintaining, modifying and fixing the
car is going to be significantly more costly than racing all year. I
am undecided as to which is worse: not having my car for three months
or receiving its inevitable "doctor's bill."
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